Retail 2020: fewer but better jobs

Retail is an important industry to the UK economy. It is the largest private sector employer, providing employment and services in communities across the country. It’s also a changing industry. Retailers are the most directly customer-facing of all businesses and as our behaviour as customers changes, so too do retailers.

As an industry we expect the years ahead will see accelerating change. Retailers will develop better propositions and compete harder across an increasing range of business models from modern multi-channel formats through to discounters and online businesses. Recent policy announcements, in particular the National Living Wage and the introduction of the apprenticeship levy, will increase the pace of some of these changes.